Kalinychta, Lesvos!

Three evenings a week hotel guests could get a free minibus ride into Plomari. As we liked to stay on the beach until late we only used the service once, opting instead for a 7€ taxi so we didn't have to rush. One night we shared with a couple of the Danish guests who'd hired a car for the day and visited Molyvos, Lesvos's most popular tourist destination. They told us that it was gorgeous but really expensive, with beer and food costing twice the price of those in the beautiful, less-visited South. 

Posing at Plomari's tiny harbour before hitting the bars.

  

Cats are loved here and there's several feeding stations around the town. 

We loved this building by day and were thrilled to discover that it opened as a bar by night, a fab spot for people watching.

Every time we visited this cat had the table to himself.

Shops in Greece stay open until 10pm. Every so often the butcher would fire up his machine and make a batch of sausages, selling out almost immediately.

Nothing feels more Greek more than sitting beneath a 200 year old plane tree in a cobbled square (and the 4€ carafes of sweet red village wine made the evenings even more special).

Having a Shirley Valentine moment!!!

I ate some amazing food when I was in Lesvos but I think the gemista (herby rice stuffed vegetables) I ordered here won.

Jon loved his lamb chops (as did the cats).

Jimmy's, the bar opposite, had a cracking DJ set on Friday nights...Chic, Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang and The Trammps to name but a few.

 

This kafenion* is the place to sit after sunset when what seems like the entire population of Plomari put their glad rags on and feast in the town square. Kids run around until the early hours while their parents and grandparents share mezzes and carafes of village wine.

*A Greek cafe which sells coffee, beer and ouzo.

This is what it look like inside during the day.

Nice to see that Black Country legend Jude Bellingham is loved as much in Greece as he is at home!

Jon got chatting to a retired DJ from Athens. There's so few tourists that we were seen as a bit of a novelty.

 

Dimitri decided he and Jon were long lost brothers!

Traditional Greek life, no age limit, no language barrier, all are welcome.

The food in this taverna was so good we went back - no idea of the name, it was written in Greek - such great value, even with half a kilo of wine we still we had change from 25€! 

This oven-baked aubergine with hard Lesvos cheese was the stuff of dreams.

 Another night in Plomari.

In Lesvos you always get free snacks with your beer.

And that, my friends, was our idyllic and very lazy fortnight in Lesvos. I'd move there tomorrow if I could! Where next? We're already looking!

In a few hours time we'll be making our way to our first festival of the season, Womad! I'm beyond excited to see Barrington Levy and looking forward to Emma-Jean Thackery and Greentea Peng, too. 

See you on the other side! 

A Postcard from Plomari

 Plomari, southern Lesvos's only sizeable coastal settlement, is the world capital for ouzo production, it has a population of 4,000 and is situated 2km from Agios Isidoros. 

Every day except Sunday, at 10.30am hotel boss Vicky fired up her minibus and dropped guests off in the town centre for free. Described as Beautiful, authentic and bustling by The Lonely Planet, we absolutely loved spending time bere. 

 

It's not just Wetherspoons pensioners who start the day with a tipple, the Lesvos gents enjoy an ouzo with their morning coffee.

The main square is flanked by beautifully preserved, pastel-coloured grand Palladian mansions. There's so few cars in Plomeri that, by the end of the first week, we knew all of them and, as is typical throughout the Greek islands, their owners never lock them. Isn't this 1960s Mazda T1500 three wheeler a beauty?

Locally grown fruit and veg is remarkably cheap and walking past the fish market we noticed that freshly caught fish was 7 euros a kilo!

A fisherman taking his freshly caught fish to market...

We loved how there are chairs everywhere, allowing weary passers-by to sit in the shade. Xenia, the Greek tradition of guest friendship is alive and well in Lesvos. 

The labyrinthine alleyways snaking away from the seafront are full of treasures, like this grand stone built mansion currently on the market for just 50,000€. 

And there's always a friendly cat or two.

No matter how limited the space, a Greek will always squeeze in a few potted plants.

More dream houses....

Yassas, chonky!

Geraniums in repurposed olive oil cans, recycling at its prettiest.

There's two Blue Flag beaches in Plomari and we spent a day on both, swimming and sizzling in the 40°C heat before retreating to a nearby taverna for a lazy lunch.

 

Buy a beer...or a coffee.. and you get a free sunbed & umbrella on all of the beaches in the area, what a contrast to the 120€ sunbeds at st Antony's Bay in Lindos a few years ago!

They live long lives on Lesvos.

Built into the mountain, there's a lot of steps in Plomari but my hip held out.

Plomari's industrial history is visible throughout the town with the chimneys of the old olive oil, ouzo and soap factories piercing the skyline.

One morning we took the coastal path and walked to Plomari. Halfway is the Varvayanni Ouzo factory, which has been producing the finest ouzo in Greece for 164 years. Open six days a week, visitors can pop in for a free tour of the museum and to see the ouzo being distilled and the finished product still bottled by hand in the traditional style. Free samples were available but it was a bit too early, even for us! 

We popped into our favourite kafenion for ice cold frappes and one of the locals took an instant fancy to Jon.

Beautiful, unspoilt and an absolute dream to visit....stay tuned for my final instalment coming up very soon!