We’ve been without Internet access for the past 10 days, which has really made this feel like a vacation. The town we were staying near had one Internet computer for public use, in a tourist office. The owner sometimes came to work in the mornings, but no one knew when for sure, forget what times were posted on the door. And this was a tourist office…
OK, well here we are in the other port town of Amorgos, Katapola, where there is a fast connection, so I’ll start catching up.
We arrived in Aegiali (see Amorgos map) on the 26th on the “Express” Skopelitis, a mere 6 hours afater leaving Naxos. The nice thing about the trip was that we got to stop at every small Kykladic island, and some look great for future vacations away from the usual fare. We were met at the harbor by our domatio owner’s son, and were whisked 3 km up to Tholaria, our base for the next 10 days. Pascal stayed in the camping area, and we were going to meet the next day to go to the paniyiri in our town we’d been told by several people would take place that day. These people included the island tourist office via e-mail before the trip (they even sent Sandra the names of the 3 violinists who would be playing) and several people in town. So of course, the next day we find out that the paniyiri happened the night before on the complete other end of the island. It’s ok, we’re on a Greek island…Sandra & I had dinner at the “Sandouraki” because of the name but it turns out the name has nothing to do with sandouris (an instrument I play that is like a hammer dulcimer). But they had some bouzouki/guitar music going with singing, so it was fun.
There are paths all over the island, and we used one right near our door the next day to walk down to town, and then later, up to the next village in the hills, Langada. There we went to hear some music at a restaurant. The violinist was a young fellow who unfortunately didn’t play well, way out of tune often, etc., but at leats he’s trying to learn the tradition. The laouto player was older and came from the one-chord-fits-all school (which actually is the way it was done way long ago). But we had a good time, and the local wine was really good. It was a t this rrestaurant that we had our first “rakomelo” which is raki (a type of plum brandy) heated and mixed with honey, and finished off with one clove at the bottom. It was really good!We also ran into a couple Pascal and I had talked with on the boat, Nasos and Katerina. We agreed to meet the next night for dinner.
The next day we and Pascal went to Hora, the capital up in the middle of the island. The bus service is quite good here, with the buses actually leaving when they’re scheduled to, aqnd very comfortable. We used them all the time. Hora is an old-style town and we walked around a bit. Pascal & I took a path down to the local monastery while Sandra realxed at a cafe. The monastery is literally plastered against a mountain face. Since we arrived in the middled of the day, the monastery of course was closed, but we got to talk with two fellows whitewashing it. They were using a pretty primitive pulley system which I took some pictures of; faith goes a long way, I suppose.
A short word about local fauna: there are many hawks here, always nice to see. And the doves or pigeons or whatever they are coo in a 5 rhythm: coo-coo-[rest]-coo-[rest], coo-coo-[rest]-coo-[rest], etc. And while it’s not a bird, the local donkeys make quite the sound for this city boy at all hours. Roosters crow at dawn and every other hour to make sure you are really awake all the time, and goats have learned how to find shade in the most precarious of places. And old locals still use the mules for transport up and down the hills.
When Pascal and I returned from the monastery, whome should we find at a cafe but Nasos and Katerina. I found Sandra and we all had lunch together, which Nasos paid for. It turns out they are on their honeymoon, just got married two weeks ago. Nasos is a mechanical engineer, and Katerina is studying philosophy.
After returning home for our afternoon nap, we all met at another restaurant which advertised having music. (A word about naps: virtually everyone takes one in the hottest part of the day, for several hours. This siesta enables one to follow the island schedule of going out to dinner around 10:30 at night and getting to be around 1 or two, then sleeping till the sunlight wakes you up.) This music scene was a little more lively, due in part to the owner standing up in front of them clapping the rhythm the entire night, and telling jokes in between. This attitude of “we’re really going to have a good time tongiht” was a bit wearing. The players were better, and the singing was spirited. People actually danced, including some older folks who did a lovely syrtos, with a lot of movement and energy. We recognized mostly Naxos songs; these are very popular over here, and there didn’t seem to be many songs from Amorgos played anywhere we went. We chatted the whole evening in Greek, and it’s starting to become more fun and is easier, though I still am about a 4-year old in the language department (if that).
The next day was low-key. I took another, short hike from our room down a steep rocky path to a pebbly beach on the other side of the mountain. It was more isolated than the main Aegiali beach, but not as clear and, of course, you had to walk back up in the blazing sun to return for your nap. The main beach is filled with young Greeks and some foreigners, all intent on having a good time. Amorgos seems to be a vacation spot for Greeks, and if you’re young, there are certainly tons of people waiting to meet someone else and hang out in large groups. Sandra & I went out for dinner and heard our third violinist and laouto player at the Sandouraki. These fellows actually took the time to tune, had an electronic tuner, and a little sound system. The playing level was about the same as the night before, and no one danced. There were some very nice tunes though.
Saturday, Pascal, Sandra, & I met Nasos and Katerina for a long hike to a church on the north part of the island. Sandr & I took separate hour hikes just to get to the meeting point in Langada, and it was a very hot day. I had wanted to go about twice as far to a “mystical site” around the northern point, but it was just too much, even for me. We returned to Langada and had a welcome lunch, where Sandra discovered “Epsa” sodas. She’s been a Fanta orangeade fan and this was even better. “Fanta” seems to be a generic name for this kind of drink, as she’s asked for it and been brought “Ivi” which the owners have insisted is the same, even though it’s sweeter. These are the kinds of details you have time for in Greece on a vacation…
Saturday night Pascal, Sandra & I went to hear the latest big Cretan thing, Giorgos Zervakis, who was playing live in Aegiali at a taverna owned by Cretans. Sandra would like to tell a story about this, so here she is:
[Sandra:)"GREEK" TIME!
(Special Note for Greek Speakers!! I corrected my bad typing and bad Greek on my previous post from Ikaria in which I described some colorful comments made by the inimitable Mr. Nikos!)
This currnet post answers an interesting question that one of my clients asked some time ago. She knew that in my "other" life I played music and she wanted the Straight Scoop Once and for all!! "Sandra", she said, " why do musicians always want to stay up so LATE??"
In Greece, that is easy to answer! After midnight or so. the day's visual cues are absent and it is time for that long awaited "altered state" to take everyone far away from daily routines and cares. It is the musician's job to carry everyone to this other reality, and here, this is taken very seriously.
We all stopped by the taverna "To Steki" a few days before the big Cretan show to see what the situation was for reservations. Giorgos Zervakis is from Crete and plays contemporary music, but with roots in tradition. We were told by the taverna owner that for a set price, including a dinner, we could sit at a table and have first chance at the dance floor. It was pricey, but HEY we are in Greece and have not had the best of luck in the music department yet. It would not be so bad to hear a superstar.......So we left our names and were told to arrive early, so we could get a good table.
On the big night, we arrived like idiots at around 9:15 for the show that was advertised to start at 10:30 pm. No one was there. Our table was already set up and we did not get to choose. It was not bad, a bit back from the stage. We decided to come back around 10:15 or so to claim our spot and have our set dinner. I think we were still among the first to arrive. Our dinner arrived, rather bland it was, but I had no real expectations. We ate slowly and waited.... and waited... and waited! Finally, at midnight, the band came on stage and started off with a lively "Pidiiktos" (a traditional piece) that was pretty good despite the inevitable synthesizer at one end of the stage. Giorgos played lyra, accompanied by guitar, and a great Cretan laouto player who was a monster. Some tunes were of course not to our taste but as the evening (or rather, morning!)wore on, we were not complaining! They eventually began to edge more towards the traditioal end of the spectrum. There was fabulous dancing from all the music-starved Cretan folks living on Amorgos!! An amply proportioned young woman was circulating in the crowd carying a stack of colorful tinfoil bowls. We thought at first maybe it was Take Out food.... but later realized that it was for tips and complimentary drinks for the band!!
I must comment on the utter professionism of the band. Even though they came on at midnight, this is far from unusual, and to be honest, no one seemed to mind at all. They played and played and played with only one short break. I was impressed with the level of interaction they valued with the audience. No shallow ego stroking! They were there to communicate with the audience and everyone felt the sincerity of this sentiment. Giorgos has a golden voice, filled with just the right amount of Cretan color, not theatrical at all, just gloriously soariing.... I noticed that he was the only one who did not smoke during the one short break. Maybe he would like to keep his voice more on the Golden Side for a little longer...back to David]
We walked home (an hour uphill) when we were too tired to stay any longer (around 4 am) and heard the music all the way home. One more word on the playing: Zervakis used an ocatve splittler on his lyra the entire eveing. While this gives the instrument more apparent power, I really missed the sound of the simple instrument and wished he had played it that way at least part of the evening. The next day was just a beach and sleep day, but who can complain if the beach is beside the beautiful Aegean?
I did one last hike with Pascal on Monday, leaving from Hora, where Sandra stayed to draw. We did a simple hike up to a nearby mountain top from where you could see the enitre island, end to end. Of course, there is a small chapel here (There are chapels everywhere, although apparently only the “old folks” go to church. The exception is weddings, where the young couple still gets legitimized this way.) We said goodbye to Pascal, after a farewll lunch, as he is going to Santorini and Crete.
I’ll finish our stay in Amorgos in our next post. For environmental interest, check out my friend Fran’s comment in the Nxos post. See you soon!