S a m o s ... n o t o n l y i n m y d r e a m s
After barely four hours journey above woollen clouds they spread and I can diminish parts of the greek islands. Finally – eight years of anxious waiting is over! Samos meets Turkey, they almost tittle each others toes in the mist in the narrow bay. But is was also tittling for me to return after the eight years of absence.
We pass over Pythagorion preparing for landing. This tittling feeling I can easily be without though. The worst airport in Greece to land on. Situated below the mountains constantly having a turbulence, landing there is one of the few times I have a flightfear.
One summer many years ago when i was on Samos, a domestic olympicflight took a shortcut over the mountains and crashed into the top as the bad weather was ruling. It took three days before they found the wreck and victims. Since then it is forbidden to take shorftcuts and the landingarea is longer nowadays.
So finally I arrived to the wonderful Pension Lemonakia in the outskirts of Kokkari wich still is inbedded like an eaglesnest on the hillside och greenery. The only difference from before is that it now lives up to its name even more, as it nowadays i lemonyellow.
My greek "mother" Ourania is now at the age of picking the grapes of lifes enjoyment without working and nowadays her daugther Anna is proceeding her work together with husband Dimitri. She is definately the daughter of her mother – everything sparkling clean with the flowerishing sparkling frame that Lemonakia always has offered theirs guests generously for visual joy, and comfort alltogether.
As an old friend it was "special price only for you" - 25 euro per night for a room and kitchen! On top of that the view over Kokkari is magnificent – and free of charge!
"The bull" Ferdinand smelling the flowers or pitbull Eremis keeping an eye on the vicinity? Initially Annas big pitbull from the dogshelter of Samos terrified the arriving tourists untill they realized that he rather had the caracteristics of the bull Ferdinand than what people often missleadingly expects from a pitbull. Eremis was even too lazy to catch the flies that by misstake landed on his nose. We became really good friends from the very beginning, him and I!
To my big surprise Lemonakia beach is even more beautiful than before and not changed more than it is estetically challenging, they have also made the beach deeper wich is an advantage.'
My walk continued from Lemonakia to Kokkari beach and the old fishingharbour. This is my absolute favourite place when it comes to picturesque beauty in Kokkari! It turned out to be the same whereever I went that is was more beautifull than before to my big surprise! Had expected it to be exploited by tourism and everything that it brings along when it comes to architecture.
Unfortunately the great italian restaurant Bassilikos had closed for the season. But there will be more oppoturnities to enrich my pallette with their flavours. It is so nice with all the coffeeshops and restaurants along the harbour of Kokkari that you can enjoy without the pollution of cars as it is a pedestrian area.
Kokkari also fullfills my big passion for old doors and windows that hides their own history. It is such a lot of magic symbolism in windows and doors. Is it a closed door keeping a secret or is it a window slowly opening up embracing the future and life itself? We all have our dramas in one kind or another hiding behind thoose doors and windows.
Even the square was what it used to be! Vagelis seemed to be untouched by aging except from now beeing a father of two and married. And Jim from the beachtaverna was still sitting as glued to his chair at Vagelis, even he looked the same. On the other hand he looked old already from start in the 80-ties so I suppose time only caught up with him!
So then it was time for some movement – with moped! O´boy had I aged there!? Like a chickenshit! Went to my favoritebeach Tzabou wearing a helmet looking like a mineworker. As I arrived I did not dare to ride down the steep road so I parked at the top and went by feet down.
According to the sign you can freely use all the sanitary, parasol, sunbeds and parking for six euro. An excellent place to put up my motorhome at daytime if it lasts all the way to Samos next year (www.hottadoggar.com/monabilen.htm) – if I dare to go downhill with the car that is!
My journey continued to Manolates up in the mountains, wich was one of my big goals this short week. Up there I once owned a house and a vineyard during some years – my gray hairs are an everlasting evidence of that! I am not a physical darerdevil but I am mentally without fear and love challenges. After all challenges are there to teach us something! That time I put to much on my plate though – on the other hand you never know that on beforehand! It is always wothwhile testing in case you miss out on something.
It is said that it is not the goal that is important, but the journey itself towards it. And it was a journey all right, a loooong one! This time I will settle with only the visuell pleasure that Manolates generously offers going up there. It already starts in the Nightingalevalley where the sound of water is coming down the hill mixed with the music of birds and the intesity of a green forrest. You could get goosebumps for less! As I getting closer to the hills I can see the house in a silouette towards the mountains in the horizon.
By pure coincidense I bumped into – in the mideighties – together with my old friend Dimitri, the house in Manolates and we immediately went for it! Even though it was earthfloor, no water or electricity. But what it did have was a great potential, if you choose to put the right spectacles on that is! It was so beautifully situated with a breathtaking view over the sea and Turkey at the far end, also including a vineyard – to the emberrasing price of 1.000 euro!
Dimitris ex wife Aleka would help us intially starting the project when it came to paperwork and workers for renovation, from Athens. I suspected already then that I would be the one to take care of all the renovation as Dimitri lived in Canada and more or less just lived for his music, motorbike, camera, computersience and daydreaming.
It turned out to be right and after some years of getting tired of nagging we split the lot and Dimitri GAVE me his part of the house. Well, whatever you can say about Dimitri but you certainly cannot blame hom for being a materialist – zenbuddhistic as he is.
The more help I got from the family we bought the house from. Angelos Aggelis (above), his son Nicholas (above), his wife Agapi and later also Dorotea (above). The installed waterpipes all the way from the village for free and supported me in all kind of ways. I wanted to pay them back but they insisted that they where in debt to me as they could continue to run the farm and the profit out of it. I on the other hand looked upon it as I had free gardners taking care of the place!
I spent 3–4 months every year on Samos chasing the workers, as much as you possbly can do with greek constructors ... wich is not much it turned out. One step forward, two steps back ... etcetera ...
Contraorder was the name. Staircases where created with different levels on each step out of pure lazyness, doors in front of windows so that you had to open the kitchenwindow to be able to open the door to the bathroom, two round and two square columns for the balcony instead ot four identical columns, crooked tiles in the bathroom, hole made in the floor on the upper floor for a staircase in FRONT of the fireplace with the explanation; "it is too hot anyway to sit in front of a fireplace"!!!??? There is no end to this list.
On top of that there was a month bancstrike wich made it impossible to get money for myself and the idiots working on my place, gazolin was ending on the island also so there was no way to go anywhere and so on ... Also the workers wanted 50% in advantage on each separate project even if it was the same workers most of the time. It ended up with me paying a hell of a lot of money but no jobs were finished. They even tried to make me pay extra money for the jobs they had to correct for faults THEY had made! But that was the limit! Then my greek "mother" Ourania came setting after them!
And not only her. One day a german girl turned up who had gained a sholarship in sociologi and etnologi to during two years write about the village and doctorate i the subjects. She became a close friend of Aggelis family (wich was a good choice as it turned out that they where more or less the only family in the village with dignity) and worked with them in their farms. Also she and I became good friends. After picking grapes she would turn up in the afternoon helping me with the house. We were sandpapering and oiling windows and windowsshutters during three months. My newlymade windows and shutters were totally covered with cement from the worker who was doing the walls whitewsahing and plastering!!! And not only once! Twice!
At least we had a lot of fun, me and Dorotea after all! She taught me a lot about the village, Greece and greek. She was a wellstudyied woman who also knew the greek language better than most of the villagers, not to mention the written language – most of the people were more or less analphabets. Dorothea is a very loving and likeable preson who takes most things with ease and acceptance and has explanations to thge most peculiar situations that can happen in life, and specifically in Greece. Sometimes I slept overnigt in her simple house she rented just outside the village. To be able to do your "duties" you had to move the horse in the shed who was the poor thing having the loo as residence!
This village wich from the outsiders seems picturesque has dark shadows. They poison each others cats and dogs (and still do). Whoever leaves the village they take the opportunity to steel the other ones outdoorplants or clips for the washing. There is no limit for envy! Dorothea was backtalked constantly as she was working on the fields with men that were not her relatives. It was all alot due to envy as she worked for free because of her sholaship she did not want to charge anyone as she considered them a part of her "studyplan". Angelos wife Agapi had a little restaurant where they offered her food as a contribution.
Envy also passed my path. The farm nextdoor applied in the community that also he would get water to his farm. As he lived in the village and only had a donkey on his farm he was denied as there is a shortage of water and only houses are allwoed water. This greek had returned after 20 years in Germay and looked upon himslef supperior and had no acceptance to the denial of the water. Angelos who at that time was in the citycouncil told him that the day his donkey sleept in a bed, sat by table, eating with fork and knife and thereafter brush his teeth – THEN he would give him waterpermission. Extraordinary good answer I think!
THEN the circus started. He made his donkey walk through Agapis restaurant doing its needs while at the same time chairs and tables went all over the place. After that he came running to me demanding to to install his pipeline on mine. i had been warned by Dorothea and Aggelis that it would happen so I followed their instructions how to act – stupid, and only talk swedish to the guy. He was getting aggressive and the whole thing was escalating. When I found that there had been a burglery at the house, someone stole my swissarmyknife, left a headless rat on my floor and stole my taps (and replaced with som uggly ones???). Then i had enough!
I went back home and started thinking about selling the property. I could not afford to finish the renovation and had never lived there as I all the time stayed at Ouranias at Lewmonakia. My dream was to 6 months per year live in Manolates, paint, run a galleri/bookcafe with hammocks in the pergola overlooking the view of the sea sipping fresh juices. All thoose dreams went into ashes.
I suspected though that it would be an artsitcolony eventually. Even Dorothea dissapered from Manolates wich surprised me as she had "a good eye" (as we say in Sweden) to Nicholas despite the differences in their background. Also she was in my opinion the only one capable of living in the village simpiy due to her acceptancde of ignorace, her way ofaccepting people as they were and still stand living there. I think for that you REALLY have to be gronded.
Aggelis calles one day and askes if I want to sell as his son Nicholas wants to move out. I knew how much this house ment for them and how much they regreted selling. I was glad that ist was THEM wanting to buy it back as they alsio had a big history of the house. They had also always been so kind and helpfull so even if my heart was sobbing that my dream for now was over I was glad it turned out the way it did.
Quite a few years later I recieve an email; "Hi Mona! Guess where this mail is coming from? "Your" house in Manolates! I got fed up spending 8 years in dusty etnological archives and the academic life in Germany so I went back to Greece and married Nicholas. Dorothea" I got so happy! The ones that really deserves the house and knows the spirits and hard work of it ... not to mention Nicholas familystory to it!
Incredibly curious I parc the bike and enter the village. What first catches my eye is the small orange gallery next to Agapis restaurant – and of course there she is – Dorothea! Selling souvenirs and art. Also looking the way she did before – now 47 years old. She almost died at my sight! It was 15 years ago since we last met! It is such a dear reunion and we are for hours later eating at Agapis reatsaurant updating our lives. Agapi on the other hand has rented out her restaurant to a relative who now have made a godd foodreputaion all the way down to Kokkari.
I drink a coffee with Agapi and find out that Angelos fell down dead on "my" farm in the arms of his family only 60 years old, six years ago, she was then 52. It was a hard blow for her, as they had more or less spent everyday together since she was 15 years old – her only and big love.
She hardly went out of bed for two years but is now recovering. The last picture of Angelos is taken two months before his death is always in the focus of her and she proudly shows it to me. He was a fine and nobel man with strong ethics and pathos but struggled hard his entire life for his familyes weellbeing – his heart wich ironaically was so big for everybody could not take it anymore.
My grandmother always said that heaven needs some angels – and she was not even religious. Dying at the age of 97 she told me that if you – like her – loose a child who is only 3 years old and loose your beloved husband 30 years before you, you cannot believe in a God. But you can always believe in heaven! Noone have the rights to claim that territory. She died in peace at the age of 97 confident that her son and husband was picking her up. I still wonder where they went.
Later I went with Dorothea to the house. They have also a stable and a winemakery now. When Dorothea was about to move to Greece she had vaccinated her horse carefully for the journey but because of the spreading of mouth- and clawdisease she was not alowwed to take it away. She had finished of everything practical that had to do with her move so she felt cornered. Her vet told her it was not forbidden to ride through the country. So that was how Dorothea moved to Samos – by horse through Germany.
She also have a nice mixed breed dog who she resqued from the village. It was tied up for two weeks without food and water left for to die. Dorothea went there twice a day to feed it and then brought it home as noone clamed it. She never bringsrthe dog to the village for the fear of poisoning. When they are picking the grapes the is always with them though.
She also feeds a bunch of cats in the house. Even Agapi who dont likes cats have resqued a cat poisoned by the villagars who luckily survived. Nowadays Dorothea and Nicholas produce ecoligical wine encouraged by EU.
On the way to the village from the house I see a castle with towers wich is unknown to me. Dorotea tells me that it is another one from Germany returning Manolatescitizen who built his castle of his dreams – it took him 20 years to make a realization about it though. It is suppsed to be very kitsch with ponds and statyes of godessess i with amforas with water framing the way to the castle.
His sparetime he spends in the village complaining about the missery in Greece and in the village in particular – wich of course makes everybody wonder why he is back in town. As Dorothea is german he is trying to get her on his side – wich he is not very successfull in doing. Besides there are standing miles away from each other politically. Dorothea finds him bringing some colour to the village though.
And exactly as I predicted here now is a growing artistic colony – not entirely made by greeks but english and german artists. It is excellent qualitycrafts made in greek spirit in the village itself. Old greek music and classical music comes flooding out of the galleries wich is framed by this beautifull village and nature. It is a true pleasure to walk around here, also there are some more nice restaurants and even a small pension since last time I was here.
After an intense week my greek "mother and father" Ourania and Yannis took me to the airport and to Pythagorions harbour for a cooffee. Still they are wellkeept, now beeing 67 years old – it is 20 years between the pictures. To this day they worship the ground the other one is walking on. When you see a relationship like theirs there is hope for humanity!
Two generous and magnificient people with hearts of gold and a sparkling sense of humour – wich often is anything but cleancut. We have shared ever so many laughters throughout the somewhat 20 times i have been to Kokkari and have always kept me under the protection of their wings. If any of her german tourists at her pension was laud in the morning she came running; "SCHHHHH! The Mona is sleeeping!!! Still today she calls med The Mona.
And not to mention all the workers messing up with my house in Manolates – Ourania and Yannis came as a rocket up the hill puttingh fear into them all. This tiny little person have such a stature and pride and the capability to put herself into respect in everybody – despite that I have never heard her raise her voice.
If not my caravan works ok togehter all the way to Samos next summer with my dog in the luggage, I will end up taking a plane going there. Might even accept Ouranias invitation to stay at her place. Occationally I would stay for free at Lemonakia when I was short of money. Their hospitality have no limits!
I will never forget what Ourania told med more than 20 years ago: "The Mona – you are too naive and think the best of everybody! One day you will learn that all they want is your money, and only 3% are REAL friends – the rest is shit! You will find out who is who!". Spontaniously I thought then that she sounded cynical and bitter to only find out that she she lacked thoose senses and instead was a grounded realist and came with theese statements only for my protection.
Thanks Samos for a nice week!
Here you can find some more of my greek experiences:
• Friends in paradise – Kokkari 1999, Samos
• Några strandpärlor på Samos – sommaren 1998
Here you can find some more of my greek experiences:
• Friends in paradise – Kokkari 1999, Samos
• Några strandpärlor på Samos – sommaren 1998
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