Newsletter Issue 15: March 2021

Well March is here, meaning Spring the weather is warming up after snow (well a snow storm) in February which was so cold it even dipped to 6 degrees, yes, I know how sorry for me you must be feeling We did have the normal Halcyon Days in January though when it is so warm and the sky so clear, an almost piercing blue unlike the powder puff blue of the summer. This weekend should be Carnival and the fact that it would not happening for a second year it so sad hopefully next year!

“And the Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.” Figure 1 Naoussa May 2018 (taken by ― Percy Bysshe Shelley, me)

Coming up Well, you endured my film selection so I thought I would follow it up with books! Also, hopefully now we are getting more positive news I will stop boring you to stupefaction with old news, so just the one story combined with the life of a famous islander, and the story of a famous tomb (sorry!).

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Our News

Sadley another year will past with no carnival and I am 100% sure that going to fly kites on the beach on Clean Monday is against all regulations, (have just found out it is not against regulations as long as you inform the authorities in the normal way and walk not drive!) The PM has convinced everyone that Easter will be celebrated this year at least. The vaccine program is rolling out and has sped up following with two super centres one in and one in Thessaloniki, and islands with populations of less than 1000 are having all their jabs done in one or two days.

We have seen a steady increase in booking in the first two months of this year and during meetings with other travel agents (by dreaded zoom!) they have reported similar experiences, especially for August and September onwards. Although we still know there is a lot of hesitancy out there and lots of people are awaiting the outcome of the UK government review of international travel, with the report due on the 12th April. From the Greek side the Greek tourism minister has stated that British tourists will be allowed to start arriving from late May, how this is going to “pan out” we don’t have exact details yet, but if you want to know more do not hesitate to contact us.

If you are one of those people who understandably is waiting for the UK government’s announcement in April but are hoping to come this year, it would be great if you can let me know beforehand so we can prepare something ready for you, as this will not involve any cost but planning itineraries is time consuming and if it is ready before hand, it is so much easier, sorry I know I go on about this a lot but those who have brought holidays from us in the past know how long the planning can take. Also, a reminder we sell package holidays which means you are protected under Package Tour Regulations by law

Figure 2 Spring 2018

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News Some up-to-date news to start with as things return to normality the old news will hopefully disappear!

Santorini/ Airports

Relief! Fraport have completed work on Mykonos airport ahead of schedule (the one thing the pandemic helped with!) and completion of the works at are imminent. Mykonos now has it’s VIP lounge back and not the gaping hole in the roof that was there last season!

We will be at both airports soon and I will post pictures – from what we have seen online Mykonos is very different to the run down 1970’s style it boasted previously!

Figure 3 Church Santorini (can’t remember when!)

Bicentennial of the Greek Revolution (1821)

An open-air exhibition entitled “History Has a Face” is the first event of celebrations happening this year. From February 8th the portraits of 22 of the heroes of the Greek War of Independence are adorning the walls of the National Gardens facing Vasillissis Sofias Avenue.

Also, a new museum dedicated to the Philhellenes Who Fought in Greek War of Independence will open its doors in Athens as soon as it is deemed safe to do so!

One old news story to follow!

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Figure 4Aperianthos Village, (well it's better than a picture of the Swastika on the Acropolis!)

Youth native of Naxos and his friend remove Swastika

“It was a large flag and when it fell it covered us. We got it off us, hugged and danced a little, right on the spot,”

During the night of May 30 1941 Manolis Glezos and his accomplice Apostolos Santas (both aged 18) armed with just a lantern and a knife entered the Acropolis hill via a cave, they climbed the flag pole on the top and tore down a giant Swastika flag which had been flying over Athens since 27 April that year. The pair made a successful escape, evading a group of German soldiers who were drunkenly “celebrating” the Third Reich’s capture of the island of . By way of explanation as to why he was so late home Glezos gave his mother a square of the ripped flag, the rest they had cut in to pieces and buried. German authorities in Athens immediately issued a death sentence in absentia. it wasn’t until 1942 though until he was arrested by German forces, imprisoned and tortured.

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Biography of Manolis Glezos

“No struggle for what you believe in is ever futile,” Manolis Glezos

National hero, Greek Veteran leftist and World War II resistance fighter Manolis Glezos was born in the village of Apeiranthos on Naxos in September 1922

Over the course of four decades, Glezos was imprisoned numerous times by the Germans, the Italians and then by Greek rightwing and military governments, was tortured and put in solitary confinement, lost a lung as a result of TB contracted in prison, sentenced to death numerous times and spent time in exile. Yet this remarkable man remained politically active both nationally and locally throughout his entire lifetime. His interest in the war years in never faded and he was considered to be the greatest authority on the resistance movement in Greece, writing two massive books on the subject.

He served as mayor in his native Apiranthos between 1985 and 1987. His initiatives included the creation of four of Apiranthos’s five museums, a library in his name, which comprised some 20,000 books, and the foundation of the Aperathou Women’s Traditional Crafts Cooperative, In the 1990’s, he masterminded a solution to the village’s water shortage problem with the creation of low dams

He also launched a small experiment in participatory democracy in Apiranthos. Everyone in the village over the age of 12 had the right to speak and vote in a new village assembly. About 150 out of 1,000 villagers regularly took part. It was, he said, “a much better system than when we were just seven councilors taking all the decisions”.

He was a vociferous critic of austerity measures caused by the crisis in Greece and at the age of 91 in 2014 became the oldest ever MEP following the European elections. As he got older, he was revered in Greece among people of all political persuasions and when he died at the age of 97 on 3rd of April last year, plaudits came in from all sides It was recently reported that a room will be named for him in the European Parliament building.

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Books by island (rather tenuously!)

I can’t imagine not having my Kindle with me even when I go to the supermarket, I just love reading. So here is a mixed bag of books that you may enjoy reading now or when you are on a beach somewhere with a cocktail in hand. Some books have fairly tenuous links to the islands but I have tried

“It's a great blessing if one can lose all sense of time, all worries, if only for a short time, in a book.” ― Nella Last Figure 5 Tinos - 2019 Athens The Parthenon – Mary Beard (2003) I have recommended this book endless times, especially to client’s who will be staying in Athens. An interesting not too academic read about the ’s most famous building, Marbles.

The House on Paradise Street – Sofka Zinovieff (2012) This is an incredibly moving book, historical fiction at its best. Set in Greece during the occupation and civil war, as well as the present time it is the story of family conflict.

Tinos Target Tinos – Jeffrey Siger 2012 One of Jeffrey Siger’s Chief Inspector Andreas Kalidis series of books, this is beach reading especially when you are on a beach in Tinos! I can only see this book is available as an e-book but I am happy to be proved wrong. – other books in the series are set on the other islands and in Athens.

Alice; Princess Andrew of Greece - Hugo Vickers (2003) Ok so this book only has a tenuous connection to Tinos – Princess Alice (better known as the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh) spent some time as an Orthodox nun on the island.

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Sifnos The Chronicles: tales from a Greek Isle - Sharon Blomfield (2016) A very amusing travel memoir which makes you feel like you are in Sifnos with the author., there is also a follow up novel.

Figure 6 Sifnos port

Greek Cookery - Nikolaos Tselementes (1950) (in English) You are unlikely to be able to get hold of this cookery book by the man seen as the most influential cookery writers and chefs in modern Greece. His original book Οδηγός μαγειρικής και ζαχαροπλαστικής, (Cooking and Patisserie Guide) published in 1930 was a book that every Greek woman had on her shelf. Tslementes originated from Sifnos and every year on Sifnos a festival is held in his honour, however, Tselementes had a very French style of cookery and now many cook go back to the traditional way of Greek cookery and an alternative very good contemporary cookery book is

The Foods of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean - Aglaia Kremezi (2000).

Kremezi’s family come from and , although she was brought up in Athens. This book covers food from all over Greece, my copy is the American version so it just needs a bit of searching for equivalent weights and measures.

The Greek House, The: the Story of a Painter's Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos - Christian Brechneff with Tim Lovejoy. (2013). Beautifully descriptive the story of a young artist who at 21 in 1972.moved to Sifnos to paint and to discover himself.

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Figure 7 Firiplaka (I know again!) Milos

Disarmed; The Story of the Venus De Milos - Gregory Curtis (2005) I first read this book in Milos, it explores how the Venus was found, it’s subsequent removal from Greece and its subsequent display in the Louve, he has a very conversational, easy way of writing making it an interesting read

Mykonos At Sea – Laurie Graham (2011) Another one with a bit of tenuous link but they do visit Mykonos on their cruise – as with all Laurie Graham books this is a lovely amusing beach read.

Santorini

Night Trap In Santorini - Emmanuel Bouhalakis One of those short detective books ideal for the beach mainly set in Santorini.

The Greek Heart – Kate Frost I can only see this comes as an eBook – very much fluffy beach romance set in Santorini and

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Figure 8 Athens June 2020 Naxos Discover Hidden Naxos (A Guide for the individualist) - Stuart Thorpe Stuart lives on Naxos and is a font of all information - his book is available on his website and in Naxos Chora if you want more information please ask. Stuart also arranges group and individual walking tours again for more information please ask.

In the Dolphin’s Wake Cocktails, Calamities and Caiques in the Greek Islands- Harry Bucknall 2021. Ok so not just Naxos this is the story of Harry who in 2006 travelled for 183 days from Venice to Istanbul, visiting every island group in-between including the – it is a gentle read. ( is a bit less graffitied nowadays!)

Syros Mussolini's Greek Island - Fascism and the Italian Occupation of Syros in World War II - Sheila Lecour (2015) I have recommended this book loads of times to people coming to Syros, with the proviso that it an academic study and very in-depth but it does offer valuable information not just about the history of Syros but about the occupation of Greece as a whole during the WW2, it is also quite expensive but you can find various chapters on the internet.

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The Great Chimera’ M. Karagatsis (first published in English 2019) It is hard to explain this book and certainly not in one sentence, but it is a novel about turn of the century Syros and the life of a French woman who married a Greek shipbuilder.

Not connected to the islands but to Greece in general

The Flight of Ikaros; Travels in Greece During a Civil War - Kevin Andrews (first published 1984) – breath-taking! The author’s story of his somewhat brave (possibly foolhardy) travels through Greece during the Civil War.

Twice A Stranger: How Mass Expulsion Forged Modern Greece and Turkey - Bruce Clark (2006). Following the Treaty of Lausanne in the early 1920s, population exchanges were carried out between Greece and Turkey this book documents the exchanges and the consequences.

Comedic story of the authors moves to Greece.

A Kilo of String – Rob Johnson (2017)

It's All Greek to Me! A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, - And Real (2017) – John Mole

Figure 9 Marble Bus Stop – Pyrgos Tinos

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The Tomb of Sofia Afentaki – First Cemetery of Athens

I am not sure visiting a cemetery is on the top of anyones list when visiting Athens! However should you find yourself anywhere near, one of the most renowned tombs is that of “The Sleeping Girl, arguably the most wll known piece created by the Tinian sculpter Yannoulis Chalepas.

Sofia was a beautiful young woman part of high society in Athens, she died of TB in Athens in December 1873, a few months after the best doctors in Athens had recommended her isolation on the island of her family, , in order to breathe fresh air, in the course of her treatment. (Many stories incorrectly state she died of a boken heart). Her uncle a well known philanthropist and native of Kimolos approached Chalepas to carve the mermorial to her.

Chalepas who by then had, had his own studio in Athens was at the start of a mental health decline that led his father having him committed to an asylum on Corfu in 1888, where he was detained until 1902, when his now widowed mother took him home to Tinos to the village of Pyrgos, whilst there she banned him from sculpting, destroying anything he tried to create and he became regarded literally as the “village idiot”.. On his mothers death Chalepas slowly started to work again, The period from 1918 is known as his “post-sanity” period and he returned to Athens in 1930 continuing to work there until his death in 1938.

If you are on Tinos and have a car, one trip really worth making is to his home village of Pyrgos, it is literally a marble village, with two beautiful churches , even the bus stop is marble, you can visit Chalepas’s house (entrance around 2 euro), visit the Marble Museum and then continue your drive to Panormos which was the port where they shipped the marble from and is now a lovely little seaside village great for lunch (as with everything if you need more information please contact me)

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And Finally

Apart from being poseurs our menagerie of animals is happy and healthy. Smudge though is in the “dog” house after deciding to neatly dig up all of Brian’s tomatoes and cucumber seeds!

Ted is not medallion dog really! It is the law here that a dog must wear the proof they have had their jabs and are micro-chipped hence the rather oversized medallion with that and the little bell on his collar at least we know where he is all of the time!

I have possibly given enough book recommendations for this month.

Did you know the Greek flag includes nine blue-and-white horizontal stripes, which stands for the nine syllables of the Greek motto “Eleftheria i ” or “Freedom or Death”? Blue represents Greece’s sea and sky, while white stands for the purity of the struggle of freedom. In the upper left corner is the traditional Greek Orthodox cross.

Greeks, God has signed our Liberty and will not take his signature back. (Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης, 1770-1843 , Hero of the Greek Revolution)

As always thank you for reading or looking at the pictures and take care.

Rachel & Brian March 2021

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Figure 10 Donkey traffic Jam - Ano Syros April 2019

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