While we were in Sigri (the bay is very large and was once mooted as a NATO naval base) there was a major military exercise going on for a couple of days. As well as the usual jets screaming overhead, a couple of patrol boats docked briefly (with much shouting and arm-waving, shades of The Navy Lark), and helicopters hovering.
        There was a small army base outside the village, which seemed to be just an aerial farm but we saw the bespectacled National Servicemen coming into town to buy bread and olive oil. During these two days, though, a group appeared on the town beach and played with wet suits and inflatable boats like James Bond and "invaded" the islet opposite (home only to a lighthouse). Their changing clothes led to some buttock-bearing which had the ladies on the beach quite excited!
        Although nudity was possible out of the village, the village beach was kept respectable by the local coastguard as there was no policeman in the village. The coast guard therefore supervised the visiting yachts, fishermen and checked the beach for our Northern European cousins taking too many clothes off in front of the village grannies and kiddies. Guess which job they undertook most zealously!
        Despite the warlike signs and the usual Greek-Turkish hostility I was heartened to see the Turkish inscriptions on the castle and the water fountains in the village are maintained and unvandalised, a nearby village still has its minaret and there are moves afoot to restore Turkish Hammam in Sigri and full credit is given to the Turks for introducing a water supply to the area via an ancient aqueduct (sadly a victim of one of the many earthquakes in the 1800s). The village church was actually converted from a mosque which was built by a Greek architect and thus aligned in the Orthodox way, not towards Mecca. The village priest was quite traditional, being attached to a local monastery, but also fairly young and ran computer courses for the children, and was not averse to being seen in a bar with a drink and a cigarette.

            I mentioned that our balcony was great for people-watching. 3-4 fishermen moored at the jetty below and it was a good weather indicator if they moved their boats into the main harbour that the next day was likely to be too windy for the beach. They were having to go further and further for good catches and the unpredictable winds this year seemed to have scattered the shoals. One was considering spending the winter as a quarry lorry-driver at a steady 40 euros a day plus overtime as although he could get 100 euros a day from fishing on a good day, on a bad day he might only get 20 euros or not be able to go out at all.
          One of them also had a house next door to us and seemed to divide his off-water time between watering his tomatoes (no water shortage on Lesvos, lots of springs, lakes and rivers) and bashging seven bells out of octopus he'd caught. On the other side was the taverna with the Doberman. The owner, with grey hair and black eyebrows, looked like Steve Martin, especially when he got telling stories to the fishermen and accompanied them with funny walks and gurning facial grimaces.

        And I think that is really all for this year. We've already booked our return trip to Kalymnos for next June, not decided where to go in September. So now I'm looking forward to my 60th birthday bash next month with Sonny Black and the Dukes at Jagz . Best of all, I love reading Brett's accounts of Guam, lovely stuff….to see us through the winter, and perhaps Fat B******d will let us know how he got on in Kos when he gets back in a couple of weeks.

Kali antamosi!

RtS