Early start this morning in preparation for the arrival of my hire car this morning at 9am. I signed on the line & was shown to my awaiting chariot, an unsophisticated Hyundai manual hatch! The windows are electric but that is the entirety of the mod-cons. The radio is set to a Greek station with talk & traditional music & fades in & out as I go between hills 😂
I slowly navigated the alleyway out onto the ‘main’ road & I was off. It’s been many a year since I drove a manual car but my skills haven’t faded & I kept stalling to a minimum, getting away with it twice throughout the duration of the day! I only drove on the left once & that was quickly rectified when another car approached, I hastily righted (literally & metaphorically) myself & got a nod & a smile of humour from the passing driver. They must be used to foolish English people who visit every summer?!
Once I’d filled up with petrol 1.93euros a L 😐 I decided that I would go to Mithymna (Moyvos) to see the castle that I visited briefly last week when we went to see the wisteria. I managed to back into a parking spot & walked into the main part of town, there is absolutely NO WAY I am navigating the narrow streets here.
The wisteria is beautiful but already starting to drop its petals. The smell is still incredible & it was very insta worthy. There are definitely more people around than last week but it’s still relatively quiet. The perfect time of year to be here, the residents are gearing up for tourist season, they’ve got energy & are not jacked off yet. They are friendly & chatty, practising their English in preparation for summer.
First things first, coffee! I stopped half way down to the port & sat gazing out over the Aegean Sea. The wind was dancing across the surface of the water like a murmuration of birds & flashes of silver glinted on the sea floor as fish foraging around the rocks flashed their sides to catch the sun. The coffee was accompanied by a gigantic slab of home made baklava & as I sat with the sun on my back I watched the village come to life with visitors & locals alike.
The family in the restaurant next door arrived & put out tables, chairs & pots of colourful petunias & cyclamens. Cars, scooters, pedestrians & trucks all buzzed up & down the cobbled street, where there is barely room to swing a cat. It was fun watching the street come alive, colourful & sunny & there was a friendly vibe in the air. This pic is why I will be parking on the outskirts of villages & walking in!
It’s tight!! Look at the building, the way the upper storey hangs over the road, a little like a British Tudor style building. These may have been built at around the same time, when people were throwing their waste into the streets from the windows & those below had to hope for the best? 😳 When I went in to pay I met three locals, two Greek blokes & an English chap who’s lived on Lesvos for 30 odd years. We had a bit of a yarn & then I left to head up the hill to the castle. Climbing these steps I stumbled across the ‘Public Historic Library of Methymna’ & popped in for a look.
Two hours later I left the library with a new friend & a head full of Lesvos knowledge 🩵
The historic library has been operating since 1859 as a lending library, a reading room & a community centre of culture & knowledge. It is the 10th historical library of Greece & houses a collection of around 20,000 volumes of printed & audiovisual material. The historic section of the library includes many important old editions & the works of famous Greeks. There is archived material, the minutes & documents of societies in which the history of Mithymna are recorded & a museum of memorabilia from ‘The Brotherhood of the Muses’.
Established as a literary society in 1859, ‘The Brotherhood of the Muses’ first aim was to found a library to educate, awaken spiritually & strengthen the Methymnians & encourage them to fight for their freedom & national independence. Under Ottoman rule in the 19th century, the Sultan gave privileges to enslaved nations which stimulated the formation of the brotherhood & the dissemination of literature to the people. This is a pic of the seal of ‘The Brotherhood of the Muses’.
There are volumes dating back to 1670, printed in places like Venice, which housed renown printing-houses of the day. There is also a completed series of books of Ancient Greek writers & an archive collection of the writer & poet Argyris Eftaliotis, which includes manuscripts documenting the collaboration between he & his compatriots who fought, with their pens, to bring into use the popular form of the Greek language spoken today.
The lady who runs the library, Elena, was so helpful & informative. She has a real passion for the history & culture of this amazing island & was a wealth of information. We spent a couple of hours together looking at historical naval paintings, the art of El Greco, books showcasing the towns of the island & taking in the amazing view across the top of the Ottoman minaret & down to the beach, awarded for it’s clear waters & famed for the dolphins who play off shore.
Elena & I exchanged details & I hope to go out on Saturday night with her & some friends to watch a Greek band play traditional music. I really enjoyed my time in this beautiful old building, learning more about the history of this ancient island (inhabited on & off since 11,000 BC) & surrounded by such important pieces of cultural, artistic & historical importance. Almost the best part of the visit was when a young local girl, who had recently visited with her class, came in to borrow a book. I saw Elena light up with joy knowing that the library, established all those years ago to share culture & benefit the community, is still alive & being used by children. It was a beautiful moment to be able to share with them both.
By this time it was almost past 4 o’clock & I was getting hungry! It was obviously far too late to go trecking up the hill to the castle & passing the cats lazing by the fountain in the afternoon sun, I made my way down to the port & lunch.
I knew exactly where I was headed because I went to the port for lunch with friends Mark & I met on our ‘cruise that wasn’t’ last year. The tavern I had in mind was shut so I chose the one next door which had an old man propping up an outside table & traditional Greek music floating out of the front door. I passed other tavernas which were crowded with tourists but I want to speak to locals & get a feel for the heart of the place. Pretty sure locals don’t eat down here, but whatever, you get the picture!
Ordering my usual salad & bread I couldn’t resist the temptation of freshly grilled calamari. I was not disappointed. It was salty, oily, tender & fresh. Dousing it in lemon I slowly let it melt in my mouth, savouring the luxury of fresh caught seafood. I was joined, of course, by some of the locals looking for a tidbit, sorry mates, I’m far too greedy to share!
After a chat with the chef I walked a little way along the causeway to take in the view of the village from a different angle & as I sat there I couldn’t help but laugh out loud…this is my life, it’s actually happening, I manifested this, my long held dream has come true. It’s almost too incredible to believe & the grin on my face must have made me look a bit bonkers as I strolled back up the hill to my car 😁
I could live on this port, the houses are so quaint & the little boats bobbing in the harbour satisfy all my long held fantasises of being part of a fishing community. I know it would be windy, wild in winter & packed in summer but if I had this little house to retreat into & the view to die for I think I could make it work!
The drive home was uneventful, thank god & the day was rounded out with a rest, a cup of tea & my book. Yet again the island of Lesvos has gifted me with a surprising, gentle & utterly fantastic day. Mum was right today on the phone….I don’t want to come home!