Subject: BS: Postcard from Limnos 2005
From:
Roger the Skiffler
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 11:20 AM
Not a vintage year for amusing or music-related incidents this year but we had a good time. Limnos doesn't get a good press in the guidebooks but it isn't as flat as they make out. The end we were, near the port and capital Myrina, had hills all round. The flat plain further East is very fertile. In ancient times grew cotton and hemp, later cereals and cattle, and now, increasingly, vines. Trees are being replanted too. Apart from the Greek peak holiday periods of July and August it is not too busy and being a working island, not overwhelmed by the tourist tat.
We were in a well-appointed studio, just the bare electric wires in the shower cubicle to remind us we were in Greece, set in lovely gardens (veg. and flowers) about 3 mins from the sandy Rhea Nera beach. We also had a wood next to our studios so lots of birds, though none unusual, but nice to see flycatchers close too and on our walks, lots of crested larks. We did a boat trip with excellent lunch and saw even more Eleanora's Falcons than we saw on Alonissos. The beach had watersports and sunbeds, but not much call for the former and the latter were shared, particularly in the afternoons, between locals and the few UK, Dutch and Danish tourists in the area (Avlona) which is really a suburb of the town, on the edge of the accommodation . The shops and offices kept traditional hours so the young workers tended to spend their siesta at the beach. There were lots of young people on the island, unlike some we've been to. I counted about 8 children's playgrounds in the town (pop. 5,000) and the full range of schools from crèches up to what I guess from all the motorbikes outside would be the equivalent of senior high or sixth form college and evening schools as well.
I took the time to do some anthropological research and can report that the most popular colour for bikinis this year was powder blue though both black and white had their following. A particular yellow example would have got points for style and content but I was unable to complete my examination as my dear wife pointed out it was surrounded by fans a third my age who didn't drool.
There were some posh resorts around. We walked to the nearby Plati beach which was very nice but disfigured by a new road at one end and a large Mark Warner complex at the other (complete with watchtowers, armed guards, Alsatians…no, I jest, I'm sure it was lovely inside). Next to our beach was an all-inclusive Italian resort whose inmates (sorry, guests) seemed to do everything together and to the sound of whistles, whether aquarobics off their private beach or mass kayaking across the bay. I though they must have a special "fathers and daughters" offer on as there seemed lots of grey paunchy men with blonde skinny women but my dear lady wife, who is more cynical, suggested the ladies may have been older than they looked but benefiting from cosmetic enhancement, or indeed, perhaps may not even be related to the men by marriage. I was shocked at such a thought! Most of the time there was lots of space on the beach but on Sunday the usual Greek family parties descended with the traditional boom boxes, mobile phones and beach tennis games and lots of plastic water toys for the kids and, being gregarious and friendly, come and surround the reserved Brits who would normally not sit within 20 yards of anyone else!
There were a large number of Dutch people but they seemed to have daily coach trips so we only saw them in the tavernas in the evening, usually very jolly, if loud. The Danes were fewer in number and seemed more serious.
The proximity to Turkey meant the island has a large military presence. We saw them march to the harbour on Sunday nights to play the National Anthem and disrupt the traffic. The sergeant looked like Chuck Connors, most of the National Servicemen looked like Woody Allen. Their band was drums, trumpet, tenor sax, clarinet, 2 tenor horns and euphonium. The Officer's Mess had a prime spot on a headland between the town beach and ours. The only live music we heard while we were there was coming from there on Saturday night- men singing to accordion and bouzoukis.
One of my aims on our Greek holidays is to have a different main course each evening and to have some dishes new to me. No problems. Lots of different "flomari"- local pasta and filo pastry tubes with lots of interesting fillings, rabbit stifado (on the second day of the shooting season). Quite a lot of mushrooms too and plenty of veg choice. The local wine was excellent and only 6€ a litre, though some of the reds were a tad sweet. Free puds were on offer, not just the usual melon but loukoumades and cheesecake and I also had the odd kataifi and galaktobouriko in the cafenions.
I mentioned the agriculture, water was clearly not a problem, there is a large reservoir as well as a salt lake and marsh attracting overwintering birds, including flamingos, and I was impressed by the number of fire hydrants and public water taps and working fountains, both public and private, so different from the dry Dodecanese and Cyclades.
There were also two driving schools in the town. I imagine they teach basic driving- how to park 3 feet from the kerb, how to carry a ladder and several parcels on a moped, driving while on a mobile phone etc.- and also the advance skills we saw demonstrated- driving 2 wheels while drinking a frappe as well as using the mobile phone, double parking in the middle of the road, and in the middle of a crossroads, (we saw the police car do this!) using the pavements for parking so the pedestrians all walk down the middle of the street, driving down the pedestrianised shopping street during the evening volta- the latter a speciality of the local cool guys on their motor or push bikes but successfully thwarted by side-by-side mums with baby buggies. We even saw a pram jam where two prams in opposite directions locked wheels and blocked the way till an impatient black granny imperiously waved them aside. I could also imagine the written advance driver's test: " You only have a moped. You have a wife, 2 kids, a dog, shopping and the mother-in-law to get back to town. Who has to walk? (Clue: you never got on with your mother-in-law)".
There were also a lot of Athenian tourists, occasionally bussed to tavernas we had chosen to eat in. They were mostly elderly, though one group had a sole sulky teenager who stereotypically mooched about the beach with out so much as removing her shoes while the oldies had a raucous lunch. We saw her twice on different beaches throwing the same strop while the old men gradually ended up at the same table and the old women conducted conversations across the room. One group of ladies ordered water (by the glass, not the bottle) and when the waiter had gone, one topped it up with wine from a bottle secreted in her handbag. The second time we saw this group was in a beach taverna at Platy. There was a group of local men at one table this large group of Athenians and ourselves and another English couple. The chef/proprietor was at another table with his cronies exchanging jokes and insults with the local group across the full width of the room. At one point he turned the music up loud and there was obviously an intention to encourage the Athenians to dance but they all left in their bus. Then the grey haired leader of the local table did get up to dance and dragged the chef up, then the other English couple and then….well you have to , don't you, it's only polite…so I did my usual out of step Greek dance with them, Sheila, as usual doing it with aplomb. (We're at a barn dance at her church this weekend at which I will no doubt also demonstrate my two left feet). Sadly, this was our only performance this holiday- and that was lunchtime on our last day.
Anyone thinking of visiting Limnos, I'd recommend it, there are very interesting archaeological sites (5,000BC), an excellent museum, nice beaches, (food and drink I've covered), a lively port with the usual evening volta, some very large ferries being unloaded- always good for a laugh, local beautiful people negotiating the cobbled streets in stiletto heels and shops selling everything from earrings (of course she did!) to chain saws and CDs (no, I didn't- seemed mostly club anthem type stuff for the soldiery!). There is a Playboy Bar, complete with logo (Hef's lawyers must have missed that one!) full of old men watching the football! Despite the evidence of military - lots of barbers, shops selling camouflage and weapons for hunters, trendy bars, big screen soccer, Pathanaikos slogans (why is their emblem a shamrock?) we saw no trouble or rowdyism like you get in UK garrison towns, the military police did patrol but I saw no need.
We did have a spectacular thunderstorm, followed the next day by half the population out with carrier bags collecting the resultant snails. There was a herd of wild (but not shy) deer in the ruined castle (10th to 17th century on earlier foundations) and lots of toads came out ( and most got run over!) when it rained. The nearest the Skiffler vocal chords got to being aired was in a beach bar one lunchtime when they played a guitar instrumental version of "Are you lonesome tonight". Herself made it clear she'd insert a Mythos bottle where the sun didn't shine if I dared to join in!
Now it's back to the brochures to plan next year.
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sj
