The Ionian magazine May 2013

The Ionian May 2013 Volume 4. Issue 2 www.theionian.com COMPLIMENTARY/∆ΩΡΕΑΝ Please recycle: give to a friend or neighbour when finished.

Fitting Out Page 12

A Passion for Food Page 10

Growing Ancient Grains in Greece Page 8

The Art of Living Together Page 5

Metsovo: Land of Wine, Cheese and Snow Page 11

Our Mooring Adventure: Stirred not Shaken Page 6

May 2013 www.theionian.com The Ionian 1

2 The Ionian www.theionian.com May 2013

The Ionian Contact us: Website: Email: Founding Publisher: Publisher: Managing Editor: Advisory Board:

www.theionian.com admin@theionian.com Justin Smith Barbara Molin Barbara Molin Yannis Dimopoulos Ryan Smith Ian Molesworth Lee Gillson, Barbara Molin Graphic Arts Barbara Molin Barbara Molin

Happy Easter...

Easter is late this year in Greece, (May 5th), but this only means the weather is likely to be much nicer for the holiday. So, make sure you don’t miss this amazing celebration while you are here, even though it means staying up until midnight on Saturday night to watch the candle lighting in the churches and the procession. And of course, then there is the roast lamb on the spit on Sunday. Yummm.

Copy Editor: Layout: More and more visitors and yacht owners arrive each day, the charter flights are back on Printing: their summer schedule and there is a feeling of positive energy in the air. The winter has Advertising: been much too long...

Subscriptions: This month, we have for you, “The Art of Living Together,” by Barbara de Machula You can download The Ionian free as a on page 5, in which Barbara shares one of her greatest fears in life with us - read the PDF document from our website: story to find out what it is. www.theionian.com.

In “Our Mooring Adventure: Stirred not Shaken,” by Kate Loveys on page 6, Kate and her boyfriend Steve do what we all, who venture out on the water, invariably have to The Ionian is published monthly approximately on the last day before each face, is the challenge of mooring our boats unassisted for the first time. month. Publication is for informational “Growing Ancient Grains in Greece,” by Anke Ritter and Giorgos Papageorgiou purposes only. Although The Ionian has on page 8, is a wake up call regarding our most basic food—the bread we eat and how made every effort to ensure the accuracy of one family is overcoming this problem. the information contained in this publication, “A Passion for Food” on page 10, written by our incognito restaurant reviewer, Les the publisher cannot be held responsible for Kargo, is a humorous look at food, love and passion in Nidri. any errors or omissions it may contain. The opinions expressed by the contributors are not Maddie Grigg in her travelogue, “Metsovo: Land of Wine, Cheese and Snow” on page 11 shares her visit to this interesting town. necessarily held by the publisher.

And finally, Robin Lamb, nearly has a fit while getting his boat ready for the sailing Published in Canada. season in “Fitting Out,” on page 12.

Cover Photo: Sailing in the Ionian. Photo Also, a reminder that it’s the loggerhead turtle mating season, so PLEASE, PLEASE, courtesy of Sailing Holidays. To purchase watch out for them on the surface of the water and stay back as you are motoring around any of our photographs or to submit your own in your dinghies and big boats. for a cover shot consideration please email us at: editor@theionian.com

Enjoy reading... ~~~_/) Barbara Molin

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4 The Ionian www.theionian.com May 2013

The Art of Living Together

By Barbara de Machula

I

t is great to live together with our

loved ones, and sometimes not so great when there are differences of opinion or misunderstandings, but in the end usually all is well and love wins!

However, there are some that share our living quarters that I find hard to make peace with. Some very persistent guests, (or residents) show up in the evening and scare me to bits, even disgust me and make me scream for reinforcements. The identities I am talking about are the wild creatures that surround me and that originate from the abundant nature in Greece. Dare I say the "S" word?

S P I D E R S !!!

In Holland, where I originally come from, we find them in the cellars with their cobwebs or in the forest when autumn dew outlines the beautiful structure of a web. Their size is reasonable, and they are usually not seen in other parts of the house.

My parent's house in France had somewhat bigger ones, hiding between the wine bottles in the cellar and of course it was my duty to fetch a bottle when dinner was ready. I think it was then that my fear for these creatures was ignited,

since the size of the French spiders was more impressive.

All my life people tried to tell me how beautiful they are and that they are totally harmless, and do good work eating unwanted insects. But to me they are not harmless at all! The Greek ones scare me and not only because of their insane size, but also the way they behave, running

of my car to help them cross the road when I see them. All mammals I love, even mice and rats (I once had a pet rat named Suzy), bats, even scorpions, nothing else scares me!

The other day Peter, my loved one, dragged in a snake in a bag, and when it tried to escape we gently put it back and even held it for a while in the way we have seen on TV, a firm grip behind the head, the tail wrapped around the arm. They hunt for rats and mice like cats and are considered as a bringer of luck in Greek homes.

We had an adorable hedgehog, eating cat food and burping afterwards before it resumed its way into the garden, where it possibly eats snails off my veggies. A tortoise visited us and reminded me of a dinosaur from ancient times.

There are furry coated bumble bees, bugs called flying olives, (don't get them in your eye while driving an open top car!) , bats at sunset, clay house making wasps, crows that used to steal my chickens' eggs, beautiful birds and singing birds, tame and odd shaped crickets. The boys met a beaver rat (Coypu) on the road and sometimes I hear badgers barking and find their footsteps in the mud behind the house. And some lovely moths can be found on the outside of the front door in the evening, attracted to the light above the door.

But my life is handicapped because of the spiders. They hide in boxes in the bedroom, so I cannot clean them out. They hide almost everywhere that needs a good clean anyway. They hide between the summer clothes that we will need now, and in the curtains. There are no spider killers around here in Greece, except the swallows and I am waiting for them to make the first nest by our house, and if they like, IN the house‌ If anyone has a good tip to overcome my spider fears, you are very welcome!

Barbara de Machula is an artist and a musician living with her menagerie near Palairos. www.paintingholidaygreece.com

around me, on me, threatening to eat me and bite me.

In fact I feel like a fly when I am around them and every evening they race along the walls of our wooden house, inside! I tried to deal with my fears by reading about them, visiting arachno forums online and looking at beautiful pictures, but nothing helps‌ So I think I just have to live with my spider fears and focus on my appreciation of the other wild creatures that visit me.

I am not afraid of snakes, even find them beautiful. The tortoise I like and I get out

Peter with the hedgehog

May 2013 www.theionian.com The Ionian 5

cursing as he once again stopped the every move. anchor to try to hear me.

They had instinctively smelt danger. I hugging up the Lefkas channel with could almost hear them: “Charter boat This farce continued for some time. My pleas to “keep going” were uttered in an alert.

But, look, God forbid, this one even the helm in one hand and a mobile in the increasingly less than convivial tone. has a female skipper on board.” other, I felt every bit the seasoned skipper.

By the time we had finished bickering, Under my breath I was resolute.

“I’ll The caller, a close friend marooned in we’d drifted off course. Then, we snagged teach these men just how perfectly a dismal, wet Britain, was teasing me another yacht’s chain.

We were trapped. woman can park one of these things.” mercilessly about my choice of date to peel away from our Kefalonia-based flotilla.

It was, she reminded me in ominous tones, Friday the 13th and strange things can happen at sea.

I laughingly dismissed her warnings as sheer jealously. And who could blame her? I was pottering around the Ionian islands aboard a 33 ft. charter yacht, Arillas, with my boyfriend Steve. A cooling 12 knot breeze was making the 40C degree heat more than tolerable.

I was quietly confident of my fledgling yachting skills. Compared to my fellow Sailing Holidays skippers - who routinely rammed sterns into harbour walls, favoured engine power to wind and even got stuck on rocks after forgetting to engage gear - I had proven myself a comparative pro.

I thought us ready to fly the coop and enjoy a week of bareboat charter, which

by Kate Loveys to me meant adventure and solitude and the romance of isolated anchorages.

So with just a Day Skipper qualification to my name (on which the ink was still drying), and a willing yet novice crew To add to the confusion, circling boats My approach was reasonable, if not a member, an overnight stop at the were moving in to try to pinch our coveted little untidy. I had allowed for the wind apparently sheltered Lefkas town quay space. and I had taken a long run-up. The appeared utterly routine.

“Oh crap”, I muttered, or perhaps Beneteau’s stern took a while to do as Who needs the guidance of a lead flotilla something a touch less polite. asked but in the nick of time she was crew metaphorically holding our hands?

Steve, on the bow, was agitated and headed in the right direction at a decent However, what transpired in the two demanding swift action. “You’ve been on pace. I bristled with pride. hours that followed, left me hanging a course, what in the hell do we do my head in shame and using the now?” international currency of large, cold They had instinctively smelt danger.

To which I retorted: “I don’t glass tankards of beer (Mythos, on bloody well know. They didn’t I could almost hear them: “Charter this occasion) in a humbling attempt teach this bit but I’m sure if we talk to thank those who had come to my boat alert. But, look, God forbid, this it through we can work it out.” It rescue. one even has a female skipper on did not placate him.

As we approached Lefkas town “Women - they always want to board.” quay I dispatched my sunburnt talk things through,” he ranted. “We boyfriend to man the anchor need action.” windlass.

And so it went on. I’m sure, our growing As we had been repeatedly instructed on To my horror (although, I didn’t let on), crowd of spectators were delighted. the wind had risen to a force 6, gusting 7, the flotilla, we dropped the anchor upwind So, assuming my authority as skipper, I and three boat lengths out. and had swung to the north west - side on decided he should release more chain, Then, as we went astern, Steve to the quay. And here we were, about to while I went full throttle in reverse in the momentarily stopped releasing the anchor. attempt our first stern-to mooring alone.

Fearing he did not know that the chain had hope the chains would miraculously All that was left on the quay was one disentangle themselves. half-space among privately owned yachts. to be let out quickly, I piped up, “keep The miracle did not happen. Instead, our going.”

I longed for a line of bumped and bruised anchor was now locked with the other But above the wind and the ominous charter boats to buffer my berth. But, boat’s anchor. clank of chain, Steve could not hear me. undaunted, I decided we would just have Worse still, my ill-conceived plans had “What?” he hollered, as he again stopped to squeeze our way in. pulled the other yacht’s chain so taut we Within seconds, a dozen private owners, the chain, in an attempt to make out my were on the verge of ripping it from its words. mostly Italian and Greek, had risen their “Don’t stop. Keep dropping,” I shouted, mooring. heads above their parapets to monitor our

C

Our Mooring Adventure: Stirred not Shaken

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drifted away, alone, battling to quell the hot prick of tears in my eyes and frantically trying to haul in the offending rope.

Then, whilst I sorted the mooring lines to make a second attempt, a racing catamaran with five bare-chested Italians on board motored into our spot, whistling at Steve to take their ropes. He dutifully did so, mooring them skilfully.

I was not impressed.

After much furious head scratching, I made for the fuel pontoon in Kate, Robin and Ann Layton, and Steve the hope I could cajole a snoozing Greek official to help me with the ropes, leaving my weary boyfriend “Have you got no knowledge of forlornly pacing the quay.

Newtonian physics,” Steve shouted.

Then, our luck changed. Steve spotted a He proceeded to lecture me on how, if moored yacht with a red ensign and threw you drop both anchors at the same time, they will fall at the same rate and therefore himself on her owner’s mercy.

Within seconds Ionian veterans Robin remain tangled.

Shrugging, I asked if he had a better idea. and Ann Layton, of yacht Pelagos, sprang He did. He set about unmanacling with his into action.

Robin, 69, rowed furiously to our bare hands, the two 25 kg. anchors, which were by now bound together as if in some stricken vessel, with a clearly relieved Steve. bizarre act of iron copulation.

As my newfound knight in shining When he finally emerged triumphant but armour, a grandfather of three, clambered exhausted, he had a blood-red bruise the aboard I locked him in grateful embrace size of a 17oz. rump steak on his inside before surrendering the helm to him. leg. On his thumb and wrist an equally Needless to say, he moored us in menacing bruise was beginning to shine. textbook fashion in a newly available Any thoughts that our ordeal was over stern-to slot. Robin’s expertise was were short-lived. Sensing the scorn and derision of those already moored, we acted matched by the generosity of his spirit.

“It could happen to anyone - in fact, it in a typically British manner and slunk off happens to us all,” he reassured me. to find another space.

We later plied our new found friends “We look bloody fools,” my red-faced with pints of ice cold beer to confirm our boyfriend opined. He thought the crowd gratitude. ashore gesticulating wildly with hooped Fortuitously, we also had a chance to tap ropes were suggesting he be publicly hanged, rather than that they were trying to their local knowledge and, as a result, illustrate how a rope can be used to unlock abandoned our “over-ambitious” plans to head 30 nm through lumpy seas to Antianchors.

The only option of a mooring was a small Paxos and Paxos.

Instead we followed their lead and sought rocky slot by a main road leading to a bridge joining Lefkas to mainland Greece. the sleepy Greek villages and unspoilt bays of the Gulf of Amvrakikos, on the promise We came alongside and Steve leapt off, bow rope in hand. But the knackered warp of dolphins, turtles and seals.

We were not disappointed by the Gulf. got knotted. He couldn’t get it through the Although its beauty is less awesome than mooring ring. that of the Inland Sea, what it lacked in Those who have tried to hold onto four grandeur, it had in bundles of charm. tonnes of boat against a fierce wind will It contains the tiny, stunning and know it is futile. With little room to authentic, beach-side town of Vonitsa, manoeuvre I couldn’t bring Arillas back built in the shadow of a vast Venetian alongside. castle. And there is where we remained, Steve had no choice but to let the rope slip through his fingers, while I reluctantly “storm bound”, for three days where we

caught up with Robin and Anne to share more Mythos beer.

It was their eleventh consecutive season in the Ionian and there was little they had not witnessed.

On recounting our “Lefkas adventure” it was agreed the greatest of my many errors was be “too darned British and polite.”

We should have turned a blind eye to the anchor “snag,” continued to reverse straight into the only available slot and worried about the crossed chains in the morning. Safety and dry land first, with consideration to the wrath of Italians and Greeks second.

However, whilst highlighting gaping holes in my yachting knowledge, the debacle also illustrated the tremendous generosity of the British sailing community.

And to his great credit, it did not put Steve or me off sailing.

Late in the evening of July Friday the 13th, my friend rang back to say the day had been catastrophic for her. Continuous rain had caused the banks of her local river to burst, flooding her home.

She asked how my day had been. I said I had, belatedly, learnt an invaluable lesson in sailing - if something can go wrong, it will. Prepare for the worst, no matter what the date is.

Kate Loveys, 34 is a freelance journalist from London, England, where she lives with her boyfriend Steve, 42, and his 11 guitars. She specialises in education and writes for national newspapers, including the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail.

She is the brand new, and ecstatic, owner of Skyva, a Moody 31, which she keeps on the river Orwell, Suffolk. She is yet to convince Steve of the pleasure of East Coast sailing. But she persists none-theless.

May 2013 www.theionian.com The Ionian 7

Genetic modification is done under the pretext of food safety and to feed the poor.

Having a closer look at it, this pretext however is shown to be very wrong.

About a century ago there were thousands of different varieties of grain growing in the fields of the world, while today we have merely a handful of varieties growing on larger scale. Does this affect us?

Besides the loss of biodiversity, this reliance on only very few varieties has very significant effects on our life.

These few varieties are adapted to grow well only under strictly controlled growing conditions. Once these growing conditions are not met, as for example during a year with excessive rain or severe drought,

By Anke Ritter and these specialized varieties are more likely Giorgos Papageorgiou to fail.

Meanwhile having many varieties means greater adaptation to survival under a range of growing conditions, since some seeds are adapted for heavy rains, some for containers are fumigated with toxic gases dry areas, some for mountains, some for to keep out insects and pests like rodents low land and so on. If one variety fails, read is a staple food for most people and others. another variety will perform better and a Other factors that reduce the nutritional in the western world. Why is it then complete failure is almost impossible. that today it makes more and more people value of our grain by destroying many The answer to food security is not genetic sick, while it has been the most basic and beneficial vitamins and healthy fatty acids, modification but diversity! include heat treatment to dry the grain for vital food item since ancient times?

Today's wheat can be compared to Maybe something is wrong with the wheat storage. modern roses which were bred for Then comes the processing. The grain is that our daily bread is made of? different colours and shapes but not for the milled and stored as flour for a long time, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine most essential characteristic: their and by then, the grain seed that is a healthy be thy food� said Hippocrates in ancient fragrance. So were wheat varieties bred for Greek times and as we know today high yields, for short stalks to he was as right as one can be.

We grow all our grain for our bread prevent falling and for having But can plants that depend heavily by ourselves on our land without short or no hair to ease on the application of artificial processing. But they were not the use of any chemicals. chemicals, as does the wheat for bred for improved nutritional our daily bread, keep us healthy? value.

Can grain that has been bred for only one and living organism packed with vitamins The result is grain that has high yields purpose: higher yields for higher profit but much lower nutritional value than its and essential nutrients is no longer alive keep us strong? ancient ancestors. Those varieties that but dead and the decaying process starts.

Do chemicals that are added to wheat in Now the bran, the outer layer of the order to kill insects and other pests and to grain that is packed with heaps of increase its shelf life have an effect on our nutrients, is removed and the flour health? bleached to make extra white bread.

What chemicals are these?

Does the chemical manipulation of It starts before planting the grain. The our most basic food end here? No, seeds are bathed in a cocktail of pesticides because during the actual making of and fungicides to prevent damage by the bread more substances such as soy insects and possible fungal growth. flour are added to "improve" baking Once the seed is in the soil, herbicides qualities, to make the bread rise more are applied to prevent weed growth, not and become more fluffy. Almost all only once but several times during one soy today is genetically modified. season.

The yeast used in bread making is no Next are growth regulators, which are longer of natural origin but is hormone-like substances to reduce the genetically modified and does not height of the grain in order to prevent it even need to be labelled as such. from falling over.

The effects on health of genetic Once the grain is harvested, the chemical modification of food items have never treatment carries on to prevent spoilage been tested over long term for safety, during storage. Fungicides against fungal but various animal studies show that it growth and insecticides to stop insects has profoundly detrimental effects on Lambros with immature Kamut grain feeding on the grain are applied. Storage health.

Growing Ancient Grains in Greece

B

8 The Ionian www.theionian.com May 2013

made western civilisation possible. Today we can eat as much as we want but our bodies are starving from lack of essential vitamins and minerals.

So what are those ancient varieties?

In ancient Greek time, people did not eat common wheat, which is free threshing and easy to process. They ate wheat varieties that come with a husk—for example spelt and emmer. These two were the staple varieties grown in Greece for many centuries until they were replaced by higher yielding and easy to process wheat similar to our today's varieties.

Spelt and emmer are more difficult to process but they are loaded with healthy vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. Easy to digest and with high quality protein and

Harvesting spelt

kamut, which is an ancient Egyptian grain.

Due to lack of seed availability in Greece it was very difficult for us to start growing ancient grains. We first obtained very small quantities of seeds sufficient for probably 100 plants. From those 100 seeds maybe half eventually grew. But we harvested only very few seeds which the birds and mice had left for us.

With those few seeds and a lot more experience we replanted the following year, keeping a close eye on the little plantlets and protecting them like babies.

Over the course of several years we steadily increased our seed quantity and today we can manage to not only have enough grain to feed ourselves but also to exchange some for other food items we can not produce or other goods and services.

Growing grain on small scale with only limited use of machinery is however still a big challenge for us which we strive to improve with every harvest.

We use a tractor to plough the land in autumn. We spread the seed by hand after a careful selection and removal of weed seeds. Over the winter the grain grows, with some weeds of course that will always grow among it. However spelt and emmer are strong plants and possess good

less likely to cause gluten allergy. They can adapt to a huge range of soil conditions and perform well also under less ideal climate conditions. They have been hardly changed through human breeding and are still wild and natural.

Some people in Greece started realising the benefits of these ancient grains referred to as "ZEA" and the are becoming slowly but steadily more popular.

On a handful of farms these "new old" Spelt grain with husk on varieties are being grown again. One of these is our little Orange Blossom Farm, nestled among lush and dark green orange weed suppressing abilities. So yes, some weeds grow with it but they will not smother the grain.

In early summer, the grain starts maturing and by June it is ready for harvesting. Until a couple of years ago we picked the grain by hand which was very labour intensive. Now we obtained a small machine that helps us harvest our crop.

Once the grain is picked and collected it needs threshing, also done by a little machine.

If we would grow common wheat we would now have the ready grain to be milled into flour, because it is free groves near the town of Arta. We are a threshing and without a husk. Not so spelt family who is trying to live self and emmer which do have a husk and after sufficiently a life close to nature. threshing we get the grain in the husk.

We grow all our grain for our bread by This husk is there to protect the grain ourselves on our land without the use of against pests and diseases. Therefore we any chemicals. We currently have four varieties of grain: spelt, emmer, barley and store the grain in this condition, with the

Mature spelt grain ready for harvest

husk on.

Just before we want to make bread, we take the grain out, carefully remove any weed seeds by hand and then it has to go through a de-husking process before it can be milled into flour or to be used in soups.

We generally do not store flour for a long time, instead we mill it just before we make bread so it is always fresh. Our bread is a healthy whole grain bread made with sourdough instead of commercial yeast.

The sourdough culture is of natural origin and can easily be kept alive and be multiplied for an almost infinite number of times.

Sometimes we also put some "additives" into our bread, all of them organically grown in our fields such as sesame, amaranth or pumpkin seeds.

We try as much as we can to grow all our food: four types of grain, also fruit, vegetables, olives, legumes, herbs and spices and old varieties of roses and other fragrant plants.

Besides our own food we also make our own soap, fragrances and medicines if needed. We use natural building techniques and soon will be independent from the public electricity grid.

Recently a new passion grew out of our love for the Ionian sea, resulting in our new project of handmade sea jewellery.

Anyone interested in our lifestyle is invited to come and live and work with us on our farm, in exchange for food and accommodation. More about us and our activities can be found on our blog: www.orangeblossomfarmgreece.blogspot.gr

May 2013 www.theionian.com The Ionian 9

was by bon fortune that I happened upon the Restaurant Kalamia (Bamboo) located lease read this with a French accent on the main street in Nydri. On the Island of Lefkada. for best effect, merci......

Kalamia is unique in many ways as I If you are French please ignore previous hope you will discover. instruction…..

The first thing that you will notice is the Bon jour my petit dumplings, at last I can menu, there isn't one! After all why would do, pour vous, a gastronomique review as a magician need one? only a connoisseur of French cuisine is able.

Food, mes amis, should be enjoyed like a good woman, slowly, savouring every tantalising mouthful. Do not be afraid to amuse one’s bouché

By Les Kargo and tease the palette.

They say one man’s food is another man’s poison, well luckily for me I was introduced to my dream partner at the resent food critics gathering in Paris. Sleazy Wheezy fell into my arms like a pallet of fresh jelly during a rather sensual tango, tearfully she explained the horrors of life with her oppressive and demanding husband Plato Chipz a man who could not critique a slice of bread, except to say it had two sides.

Well it was amour at first sight and when she whispered into my ear that she was so hungry she could eat a horse, we ran off to do just that!

Vangelis, the Chef and owner, is a food Together in an orgy of haute cuisine and alchemist, he casts his spells into an array passion, with a little ketchup on the side, of culinary delights with a reassuring and we shall make a team formidable as we certain smile upon his face. He adds herbs travel and eat our way around these and spices to his many cauldrons and pots beautiful Ionian Islands. with a skill that only comes with Sometimes we must open our minds to experience and a Zen like intuitive flair. the nouveau my little mushy pois, take The staff at Kalamia really care that you chances, remove barriers of prejudice it enjoy your meal and they listen carefully

P

to all your needs.

It's the only place I have ever been asked anywhere in my lifetime of travel, “Do I have an allergy to nuts?” (I replied, “Only to people with boats”).

With the absence of a menu, you may wish to discuss a price limit at this point or just go with the flow. Your preferences for fish, meat, veggie, etc., or a combination will be agreed on and then your voyage of discovery will commence. The banquet will begin, when you have enjoyed, as I am sure you will, several courses of interesting and tasty dishes, accompanied by perhaps their organic wine. You can, then in satisfied replete move your happy stomach to a comfortable armchair and enjoy a liqueur, or a coffee.

The ambience of this place reminds me of the Caribbean. Its small garden within offers a different dining experience as does the décor and lighting. Occasionally, if you are lucky, the most charming and talented Gabriella or Adrianna will play keyboards.

Overall, Kalamia is a wonderful experience. If you only eat out once when you visit Nydri then please don't miss this gem in the bland sea of normality.

Bon appetit.

A Passion for Food

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Ta Kalamia Main Street, Nidri, Lefkada Island Tel: 26540 92983

Metsovo: Land of Wine, Cheese and Snow

By Maddie Grigg

One of the great things about living and holidaying in

the Ionian is that the wonders of the mainland – especially the northern region - are so easy to get to.

With the Egnatia Odos highway soaring up from Igoumenitsa, there are many exciting and interesting places to visit just off this road.

One such place is the town of Metsovo, famous for its wine, cheese – and snow.

A recent trip saw us heading for the Pindos Mountains of Epirus and up into the great white yonder above the town, where my husband played at being James Bond on a snowmobile while I rode pillion and operated the movie camera. It cost 20 euros for the two of us and it was a truly exhilarating experience.

But snow aside – and there is also a ski centre at Metsovo – the small town, perched on the side of a mountain, is well worth a stopover at any time of the year.

Famous for its folk art of wood carving and weaving, the town is also very well known for its cheese and Making cheese wine. A cheese dairy

established by the Tossizza Foundation in 1958 produces special types of cheese found only in Metsovo, such as Metsovone, which is smoked, Metsovella and Graviera.

When we stayed at Metsovo, at the very comfortable Hotel Olympic, we found cheese-making of a smaller scale going on just around the corner. Up an alleyway, behind the front gate of a house clinging on to the hillside were two women and a man and a big cauldron. We stayed to take some photos but, sadly, not long enough to sample the end result.

However, had we done so, no doubt we would have enjoyed it with a glass of Katogi, the famous wine from Metsovo, which can be found in wine shops and supermarkets abroad as well as in Greece. You can visit the winery in the town and see how it is made before enjoying a tasting session at the end of your trip.

Metsovo information: Website: www.metsovonet.gr Katogi-Averoff winery: www.katogi-strofilia.gr Metsovo cheeses: www.metsovoconferencecentre.gr Hotel Olympic: www.olympicmetsovo.com

Taking a break.

May 2013 www.theionian.com The Ionian 11

alarms. A new one will cost (it’s a Volvo so a lot), so there’s a little situation to sort out.

Thus, as the proposed launch date gets closer my chances of being ready for it get further away and things are not going according to plan.

A hatch that requires mending won’t dismantle – the usual yacht builder’s masterstroke of dissimilar and inappropriate metals in a saline environment.

Even the laptop is ganging up on me. Twice it has given me a message on boot up that amounts to “I am distinctly unwell. I may even be dead. Shall I diagnose what’s wrong with me and try to repair myself?” I tell it yes. It tells me that it is going to take some time and it may reboot several times. I go for a walk in the sun to prevent myself from hitting it with my big adjustable spanner

By Robin Lamb which for some reason I have picked up and am gripping rather tightly.

When the laptop returns to normal working my iPod won’t charge from the USB ports. This is the instrument that was going to get me proficient in Greek and Italian. I have a ack on the boat and preparing for the new season – oh course of each on it. I try it in another USB port but it just lies frabjous joy. On the first night aboard, the gas alarm went off. It there gasping “I want electricity.” I plug it into the mains adaptor makes a dickens of a racket - a bit like a burglar alarm - and that came with the damn thing. It lies there “Please connect me to probably woke the whole boatyard at about three o’clock in the some electricity. I must have electricity” morning. It seems to happen from time to time. It is supposed to “What about my Italian and Greek lessons” I remonstrate, but it detect gas but I think it is also triggered by a lot of other things. lies there. Eyelids fluttering. “Electricity” it rasps hoarsely.

The result is that it eventually gets switched off… so an I look at a nearby pylon and consider shinning up it and incredibly useful device.. another shrewd investment. connecting the bloody thing across 30,000 volts and saying “Is The next night it was the fridge. A harsh knackered-bearing sort that enough for you sir,” but no. Time to put down the adjustable of a noise, again in the wee small hours. What was the noise? I and go for another walk in the sun. thought I understood all about fridges when I left school with Robin Lamb has been fitting out and sailing in the Ionian with Physics “O” and “A” levels among my all too few achievements. his wife Helen since 2008. He is writing a book about their I could draw a diagram of a refrigeration system and explain how adventures on board Sudowner. The first few chapters are at: it worked. But that was 2000 years ago. Did the noise indicate http://authonomy.com/books/34065/sundowner/ that damage was being done? I didn’t know so turned the fridge off anyway and restarted it once or twice during the following day. There was no change.

An engineer was coming out to see me in a few days so he could give me his expert opinion. On the morning of his arrival I switched the fridge on. It worked perfectly and has continued to do so since.

A couple of days later the engine was re-commissioned and was ok except that the audible alarm was not working which was a pest as the visual alarm lamps are not exactly in the field of view being at the foot of the wheel console and too dim to make out on a normal sunlit day.

The alarms are integrated into an “ECU” - Engine Control Unit I think. This incorporates some intelligence (it’s a Volvo so not a lot) and is not easily bypassed to build my own

Fitting Out

B

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FOSTER AND PERMANENT HOMES NEEDED URGENTLY FOR STRAY DOGS, PLEASE CALL LEFKAS ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY (L.A.W.S.) IF YOU CAN HELP:

0030 697 851 0671

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You have the last word Dear Editor, Attached are some pics from some of the wild flowers in our garden.

Several types of orchids and others.

I don't know, if this could be interesting for an article.

Best regards Frauke and Chris Schlott (Meganisi) Dear Frauke and Chris, Thank you for the photos, they are lovely - hope you like the spring collage we made out of them.

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16 The Ionian www.theionian.com May 2013