My second island hop was to Lesvos, which means Lesbian and is known for its 11 million olive trees that cling to its rugged hills and it’s Ouzo, which is known as the best in the world. Half the ouzo sold in the world is produced in Lesvos. I made my base in Mytilini, the main port town that stays busy year round.
Mytilini is a beautiful town, dotted with churches, 19th century mansions and interesting
museums. It also has some of the best boutique shops I ever been to. All the little goodies remind me of all the cute things sold at Anthropologie, except these are straight from the makers themselves. I just had to get a couple things for my apt. J
I made a day trip across the island to the town of Molyvos. Molyvos is adorable with its narrow cobbled lanes, stone houses and charming boutique shops. The town is essentially built into
a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea and crowned at the very top with a Byzantine-Genoese castle. I made the steep climb to the top and was rewarded with sweeping views of the town and the sea and Turkey shimmering in the horizon. On another day, I took a bus to the nearby village of Varia to visit two museums that housed the work of a famous Greek painter Theophilos. My favorite though was the museum that housed collections of paintings by Picasso and Matisse – they were great and it was oh so enjoyable to contemplate these artworks in a unique museum so far off the beaten path. Every time I do an activity, I ask if there is a student d
iscount. The woman at the first museum let me in for free since I was a student, but when I asked about student discounts at the second one the woman said there is only discounts for students in the EU. I was so annoyed with that because I know she pulled that discriminatory rule right out of her ass on the spot. People are so like that in Greece and Turkey – if its allowed or they can get away with it then they will make up their own rules according to the present situation. It completely bothers me because I think it’s so unfair. But the concept of fairness is a much more strongly held belief in America, where as I’ve found myself in several situations (especially in Turkey) where fairness doesn’t even come into consideration. I just have to accept the cost of the unfairness (whether that be monetary or otherwise) or been seen as “that American that is always complaining about things”.
The highlight of my stay on Lesvos was visiting the Byzantine castle in Mytilini. I got there in the morning and had the entire castle to myself – it was amazing! The guy at the ticket booth was obviously bored so he gave me a personal tour of the castle. It was at the top of the town and overlooked the sea and Turkey in the distance. My personal tour guide also gave me a glossy coffee-table book about the history of the castle and on my way out offe
red me some fresh Greek desert that his wife had made. Perfect!
Greek food is amazing. I have had the most wonderful time sampling mezedhes (small dishes) and various types of salads. To celebrate my last day on Lesvos, I went to this wonderful little restaurant called O Diavlos. It had the most adorable little menu all in Greek so I just told the restaurant owner to bring me something delicious – and he did. I sat there and enjoyed t
he wonderful atmosphere of the busy restaurant while listening to romantic
Greek music and reading my new book that I had just bought on Love and Philosophy (those who know me know I never read books on the philosophy of love but what the hec
k I was in Greece and the mood struck me). The whole scene was so romantic and charming I had to just laugh at it all as I took another sip of my red wine.
Next stop: Athens. I decided to pay the 88euros for a comfortable 50min plane ride rather than the 25euros for a grueling 13hr ferry ride. I plan to do all the grand sightseeing (don’t worry
Uncle Paul I’ve got that picture of me in front of the Parthenon coming) and I somehow need to find my way to a bookstore that has some travel books (in English of course) on Budapest since I’ll be there for a day on a layover to Helsinki. More dispatches coming soon!
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